April Winchell
(born on January 4, 1960) is an American actress, writer, voice actor, talk radio host, and commentator. She was born in New York City, the daughter of ventriloquist, voice actor, comedian and inventor Paul Winchell. She is also providing the voice of Sylvia in Wander Over Yonder. Acting As a voice actress, she has been heard in hundreds of animated television programs, such as King of The Hill, Robot and Monster, Phineas & Ferb, Pucca, Kim Possible, Recess (as Miss Muriel Finster), Lloyd in Space (as Lloyd's mom), Goof Troop (as Peg Pete), Disney's House of Mouse and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (as Clarabelle Cow), Pepper Ann (as Lydia Pearson). She has also voiced roles in numerous films, including Antz, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Rob Zombie's The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. Winchell portrayed the "Glendale Federal Bank" lady – a cranky, cynical customer mollified by the service at her new bank – in a series of highly successful radio commercials, which Winchell wrote and directed herself. She was also considered for the part of Regan in The Exorcist until she fell ill and was taken out of consideration. Radio Besides her many contributions to radio advertising as a performer, writer and director, Winchell also hosted a radio talk show program on KFI, a Los Angeles radio station. This weekend program aired for three years, and enjoyed the fastest growing audience in the history of the station. Subsequent to the end of this program in November 2002, she appeared semi-regularly on the Ask Mr. KABC program, on KABC, an AM station also in Los Angeles – until the show ended in February 2007. In 2005, Winchell signed a deal with U.S. pay-TV service HBO (Home Box Office) to develop and host a show on Sirius Satellite Radio. However on her official website on May 3, 2006, she announced that negotiations had stalled out between HBO and Sirius, leaving her program in limbo. On March 16, 2007, she returned to semi-regular radio appearances on The Marc "Mr. K" Germain Show on KTLK-AM (the new show hosted by the former Mr. KABC) and appeared twice a month. (Her appearances on Germain's show are available at her website in addition to KTLK's website) During March, Winchell was "banned for life" from KABC (AM) in Los Angeles at the behest of ABC radio host Bill O'Reilly, over a retelling of an occurrence she dubbed "Croissantgate" (KABC provided Bill O'Reilly with croissants that were not fresh enough for his taste, causing a commotion at the station). Theater As a musical theatre actress, she starred as Ado Annie in the Columbia Artists revival of Oklahoma!, and also appeared opposite Kevin Spacey in Gypsy. Additionally, Winchell wrote and starred as "Sheila Sands" in her show at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles to sold out crowds. The show was produced by Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner, who discovered her at Cafe Largo in Hollywood. She has also been a frequent panelist on the live-stage version of What's My Line at the Acme Comedy Theatre in Hollywood. Personal life Winchell is the daughter of the late voice actor, inventor and ventriloquist Paul Winchell. In her weblog writings and appearances on radio, she describes her childhood with many references to the great talent of her father as well as the many disturbing incidents owing to his mental health issues. Ms. Winchell did not speak publicly about his mental illness and drug use for many years, due to the "tremendous responsibility" she felt to his fans, and the people who had fond childhood memories of his work from the 1960s through the late 1980s. But her silence ended in March 2004 after her father published his autobiography Winch, in which he openly criticized his ex-wife, Nina Russel, and other family members. In broadcasts of her KFI show, on her web diary and several other websites, April Winchell revealed that she and Kevin Spacey dated for a while after high school, during the run of the Gypsy musical, and went to New York together. They broke up some time after that but she and Spacey remained friends ever since. On August 19, 2005 she announced on her website that she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent successful surgery and radiation treatment. To promote solidarity during her radiation treatment, she issued her own rubber wristbands. Where Lance Armstrong's wrist bands were yellow, April's were "Glow in the Dark" so one could "glow along" with April. Winchell is also widely known as a supporter of various charity causes, including Project Angel Food, a Los Angeles-based service providing meals for homebound people living with AIDS. Her website, Regretsy, generates charitable funds through selling of Regretsy merchandise. On, April 17, 2011, Winchell created April's Army, one of the largest selling teams on Etsy. The Army's members run monthly campaigns, and all the profits gathered from their store go to a selected Regretsy member who has encountered hardships. On December 5, 2011, Regretsy began a Secret Santa program, collecting donations for presents for needy children. Regretsy raised so much money so quickly that Paypal froze the Regretsy account – as well as Winchell's unrelated personal account – for six months in order to "investigate." As this move effectively destroyed Christmas for 200 needy families, public outcry was massive, resulting in Regretsy becoming a worldwide trending topic on Twitter. After publicly apologizing, Paypal reinstated Winchell's accounts and donated $20,000 to the families she was raising money for. Winchell has provided the award winning radio and television advertising for Big Bear Mountain Resorts since the early 1990s. In 2007, she began appearing in their television ads as a reporter-on-the-scene dealing with a hapless studio anchorman. Photo Gallery Trivia *So far, Sylvia is her favorite role ever. Filmography Category:Cast Category:Staff Category:Actress Category:Voice Actress Category:Real life people Category:Sylvia Category:Real World Articles